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Comment by l3x | Hacker News Reader

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l3x·

I expect this was too comply with guidance on reporting on suicide [1]

> Avoid reporting methods of suicide

> Don’t refer to a specific site or location as popular or known for suicides

[1] https://www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines...

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These 'top 10 tips' have put us in a strange place re reporting on suicide. The news becomes very cryptic with a lot that's unsaid.

In Ireland, reporting on specific suicide events is almost completely absent as the effect is so dramatic.

Same with rioting in the north of Ireland. I grew up near a hotspot in Belfast and violence often went unreported to avoid the situation growing worse or spreading to other areas.

As a resident of the U.S. I always wonder once the headlines of the latest mass shooting appear if such events would be less frequent if they were never reported in the news.

By definition that's something that would be impossible to know.

Several sites withhold the shooters name, because often times a quest for notoriety is a goal for them. Denying this potentially removes some incentive.

The reverse is also true - since by revealing the name, all the friends and family members will feel pressure from their communities.

Plenty of people would consider the impact on friends and family before such an act.

While true I would hope that as a society we've moved past punishing people for the crimes of their family members.

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